the_use_of_spanish_in_political_campaignsfandomcom-20200213-history
The Growing Demographic
According to the 2010 U.S. Census the Hispanic/Latino population is experiencing large growth. "Data from the 2010 Census provide insights to our ethnically diverse nation. According to the 2010 Census, 308.7 million people resided in the United States on April 1, 2010, of which 50.5 million (or 16 percent) were of Hispanic or Latino origin."(Census.Gov) The Growth of Hispanic/Latino Populations In The U.S. The major increase in population size can be accounted for by common sense factors such as the proximity of the U.S. to Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean basin. Also, if not already evident, the continuous influx of Latino immigrants to the country--which seems to, even at irrelevant junctures, flare up talks about immigration reforms and border control policies--plays another large role in the year-to-year increase in the Latino/Hispanic U.S. population. What this all means is that there is, due to a natural demand of sorts, a need to account for the shifting demographics (referring to the change in the make-up of U.S. society) in contemporary U.S. society. Some might argue that this nation is and always has been a melting pot--a place of mass assimilation, where—through a lack of an archaic diversity—the nation engenders economic and social stability; this notion is, in fact, misguided and attempts to erase the realities of the historical and modern day United States. The argument would have one believe that through a relinquishment of culture and an acquisition of normative values all are equal and thus all (persons) must choose to assimilate or be neglected. But, the reality is that this is not the case and the process of assimilation is neither linear nor straight forward. The growing numbers of the diverse Hispanic population provides just one conflicting perspective, as Hispanics make up 12% of the U.S. population, and they are louder than ever; these people are potential customers, educators/students, investors, constituents, etc.; thus, they cannot be overlooked, unless you risk squandering the potential chance to incorporate a historically/contemporarily relevant and, increasingly so, group of people. But, while the number of Hispanics/Latinos has grown, the number of Spanish-speakers is another case. The number of speakers of Spanish is rising, though not as rapidly as the number of those who identify as Latino/Hispanic. It is clear that this may, in fact, be a resultant of immigration, as the U.S. borders Mexico (and by extension, through obvious geographical proximity/connectivity, Central America migrants) and is easily accessed by a large number of Latin America region migrants. As according to PEW, "Spanish use has grown, driven primarily by Hispanic immigration and population growth, it has become a ''part of many aspects of life in the U.S. For example, Spanish is spoken by more non-Hispanics in U.S. 'homes than any other non-English language and Spanish language television ''networks frequently beat their ''English counterparts in television ratings" ''(PEW). The problem is that this increase is misleading. Spanish speakers should not be gauged in a vacuum. The number of speakers who actually maintain their native language or their heritage language is actually declining; PEW research center has estimated a cross generational decline in the use of Spanish through 2020, and it does not appear as though language maintenance is a reality within the U.S. Hispanic communities, in general. We thus see an increase in the number of speakers of monolingual English, at least at home--but, fairly--it would seem that language attrition and language loss is taking place. The L2 (English) is taking precedence over the L1 (Spanish). So it would, therefore, be a mistake to assume that Hispanics hold onto their language, even immigrants who may, in fact, be monolingual in Spanish will, by the second or third generation, see a decline in the maintenance--use of--the Spanish language. Therefore, the use of Spanish in political rhetoric espouses one set of perceptions and ideals and at the same time it clouds and obfuscates a critical reality. This implies, again, a '''commodification: a use of the Spanish language as an exchangeable resource to meet another’s ends--to be used as a form of commercial exchange; this would ultimately mean a lack of cultural value, as the language, in and of itself--intrinsically, is denied any value that cannot be extracted and quantified in campaign donations or voting out-turns. It would seem, then, that at once we have a clamoring in favor of diverse populations, but in reality we see a systematic depreciation of diverse cultures and a lack of real cultural flourishing. There is less talk about maintaining the language alongside English and more talk about transitioning the Spanish speakers to mainstream American culture; this of course is the merciful acceptance of a twisted diversity: assimilation. Language plays a larger role in the lives of those who identify with it on a cultural/ethnic level. It is not simply a resource divested of meaning, but it is an identity, a self-defining element that is indefinitely incorporated into their essential livelihood. According to a PEW: A 2012 Pew Research Hispanic Trends Project report showed 95% of Hispanic adults—including those born in the U.S.—said it is important that future generations of Hispanic speak Spanish. And today’s young Hispanics are more likely than their parents to say they hear messages about the importance of speaking Spanish. But among Hispanics, use of English when consuming news media, television entertainment, music or speaking it is on the rise. (PEW) So, as can be seen, Spanish is an important cultural aspect. It doesn’t, however, mean that all those who identify with the language are, in fact, monolingual or Spanish speakers alone. We must realize that the terminology of Hispanic and Latino are far reaching, and just because their demographic is growing rapidly does not mean that a large use/maintenance of Spanish is the U.S. reality. These political interests imply lazy misconceived rhetoric about a group of people which seeks to divest them of their wholesale humanity and lump them into homogenous groupings to be more easily discriminated against. These communities are dynamic and vary regionally in the U.S. alone, and that's not even accounting for the variations of the populations within Latin America itself. So, instead of political discourse that seeks to exploit Hispanics as a “new” and untapped political currency, we need to see substantial accounting for the realities of Hispanics/Latinos in the U.S., by region-- by demographic make-up, not solely by way of assuming they are a growing conglomerate of unwilling assimilationist, if anything, their seeming need to relinquish retaining cultural distinction, amongst U.S. social forces, should be a campaign focus-- as I am sure the 95% of parents would value such support. Sources US Census: Hispanic Population 2010http://www.census.gov/prod/cen2010/briefs/c2010br-04.pdf PEW Research Center ...The Future of Spanish in th U.S.